Air Littoral was a French regional airline based in MontpellierâÂÂMéditerranée Airport that operated from 1972 to 2004. The airline operated domestic services as well as a small amount of regional routes. The airline also operated feeder services on behalf of Air France.
Air Littoral was founded in April 1972 and originally based at Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport in Montpellier. It started operations on 23 May 1972 with a Nice-Montpellier-Perpignan service. In 1975 it was headquartered at Aérodrome du Castellet. In 1981 it launched the first international route, from Nice to Milan. It has to be noted that the air carrier was the first European customer of ATR 42.
Between 1986 and 1987 the company expanded after the merger with Compagnie Aérienne du Languedoc and took on the new corporate name Compagnie Air Littoral. Services on Air France behalf were begun in 1993. In the fall of 1996, the subsidiary Air Littoral Riviera was established to manage routes centered on Nice. In the following year, the Air Littoral Express branch for the transport of parcels and freight was established. It would use twin-engined Beechcraft 1900 aircraft. On 31 March 1998, Cie. Air Littoral and Air Littoral Riviera proceeded with fusion-absorption under the only name of Air Littoral.
Over the years KLM, Euralair, Lufthansa and the SAir Group (Swissair), which sold their 49% stake in 2001, all had ownership stakes in Air Littoral. A takeover failed in 2003 and the company went into receivership in the month of August and thereafter it was declared bankrupt. A number of groups considered taking over Air Littoral including Azzurra Air (which shortly after ceased operations due to its own financial difficulties), but none succeeded and the airline was closed down by the French authorities in February 2004.
By the moment of bankruptcy Air Littoral was operating a fleet of 17 Canadair CRJ-100s from bases in Nice, Montpellier, Paris (Orly) and Marseille, and was well known for the bright livery that its aircraft sported in the years before its demise.
Air Littoral has operated the following aircraft throughout its existence:
in chronological, delivery and livery order
in chronological, delivery and livery order